EMR transition could be source of jobs

Last week, CBS News published an article about the job opportunities created in the health field by the transition from paper-based records to electronic charting.

Millions of charts will have to be transitioned from paper. Claire Dixon-Lee, of the American Health Information Management Association, points out that these charts will not only come from hospitals, but from doctor's offices, long-term care facilities, and even dentists. Her group has estimated that over 75,000 new jobs will be created in the health care industry to manage this transition. There is even a new field, "health information management", growing to accommodate the need. Typically, people going in to the field get and associate's degree and then can command salaries of $25,000-45,000.

New York City has an unusually strong health IT support. The Primary Care Information Project (PCIP) was designed and implemented by the city to encourage providers to transition to electronic charting. PCIP has targeted practices in underserved areas, and claims that 53% of the "smallest practices" work with the project, compared to a national average of 2%.